Abstract

Fontes 48 publishes a full text version of Anton Francesco Cirni, 'La Reale Entrata dell'Eccellentissimo Signor Duca et Duchessa di Fiorenza, in Siena' (Roma 1560). Cirni's 'Reale Entrata' is a festival book describing both the triumphal entry of Duke Cosimo I de' Medici and his Duchess Eleonora di Toledo into Siena on 28 October 1560 and the triumphal apparatus of arches, sculptures, and paintings that was created for this public civic occasion. The text is a primary document of political iconography and an early example of a festival book printed at about the same time as the event it describes. Thus the festival book become part of the event itself, serving to disseminate its content to a wider public. The booklet records the inventions, the programme, and the inscriptions presented at this symbolic event, that is, the words and images that conveyed its political and propagandistic messages. The 1560 Siena Entry was an important station in the emerging self-representation of the new Medici Principate established under Duke Cosimo I. The triumphal apparatus celebrated the victory over Siena, while proposing reconciliation with her citizens. In light of Florence's territorial expansion in Tuscany, the Medici regime's claims and aspirations to a new royal status found expression both in the entry and in Cirni's text. Cirni's rôle was not that of patron, artist, or humanist adviser. He was essentially a client of the Medici, who publicised their aims and ambitions. As he spread their fame in Rome, he also sought favour at the papal court of Pius IV.